26 month updates on Lil J

Ok, so I didn't do a 25 month blog update, though I remain undecided as to officially how often to do these updates now. Last month there just wasn't really anything new to report (& I didn't even weigh or measure him). But this month I feel like there are a few changes so I decided to go ahead & post an update (& I did weigh & measure him). Perhaps I'll never come to a concrete schedule for posting them & will just post when there's changes & not post when there's not changes.

So Lil J is now 31.2 lbs (50-75%), 36" tall (50-75%), & has a head circumference of 20.5" (>95%).

He is definitely more verbal than ever before now. He tries to repeat what he hears most of the time now. It is very easy to teach him a new command word, which allows him to communicate his needs/wants much more easily, which is definitely a good thing.

Also new, when he's watching TV he is very aware of what is taking place.  Anytime something scary or sad is happening he is now very aware of it & will turn to me & start crying about it.  For example, one of his favorite things to watch right now is "Milo & Otis" & there's a scene where Milo falls off of a cliff & down into the ocean.  He always gets scared & sad about Milo's fall.  It happens with other shows too though, not just that one scene. 

About a week or two ago I started showing him letters at bedtime. It was just for fun really & he REALLY loved it & quickly started asking to see "AB" quite often. I started with A, B, & C, but soon started adding on more letters. And as of last night he now is doing the entire alphabet. What truly amazes me is that quite a few of the letters he knows just by looking at them. I mean, I have no idea at what age children are capable of learning things, but I wasn't expecting it this early. I was starting to think that maybe he's just remembering the order of the letters in the alphabet, rather than actually recognizing the letters, but after we go through each letter one by one I then let him play with them. And he starts pointing at them & naming them, in totally random orders. He likes to try to make words with them, which also amazes me. I usually pull out the letters at bedtime & naptime now. He usually doesn't want to take a nap, no matter how tired he is, so it's become an easy way to get him in his bed for naptime. He's soooo excited to see "AB" that he will go & once he's there he usually knocks out for his nap before too long.

So up next (after he's gotten really good with what we're doing right now) I'll add in the lower case alphabet & then once he's reallly good with that I'll move to colors & numbers I guess.

I can't remember if I included this in the last update or not, but for quite a while now when we pray he always says "amen" at the end with me. And when I serve him food I'm really good about praying with him for breakfast, but I'm not always so good throughout the rest of the day with him, because he eats so frequently, it's not like actual meals, like myself eating. He's more of a grazer & I want to encourage him to eat actual FOOD (rather than just drinks) so I'm not gonna try to shift him to actual meals just yet. But more & more often now when I give him food, before he eats he mumbles a little something & ends with "amen" & then starts eating. And at dinner time we've started holding hands as we pray over dinner (it was something we used to do sometimes, but not all the time) & now he really loves that. The other night hubby & my stepson were going to eat dinner (& I had already eaten & wasn't hungry, but was sitting at the table with them) & Lil J joined us at the table too. Hubby & stepson joined hands to pray over their meal & Lil J quickly grabbed my hand & bowed his head & so I bowed my head with them & at the end we all said "amen" together. It was really a cute moment.

Aside from those changes the only other one I can think of that's worth mentioning is simply that he's becoming more obedient, which is definitely a good thing. And his temper tantrums do still exist, but they aren't as bad or as frequent as they were a month or two ago. I've been under a lot of criticism for my parenting style (which I have to say I really don't appreciate--I certainly don't go around criticizing others on how they're raising their kids & these people are not in my home seeing the full story of Lil J's behavior, etc--it's honestly just people that don't like me & are constantly looking for things to justify why they don't like me so I'm not taking it seriously at all--if it was truly constructive criticism I would definitely listen & consider what they have to say, but that is not the case at all). So the fact that his behavior is improving is proof to me that I am doing a good job & I will continue in the same way regardless of what people want to say. I am accountable to God & no one else in my job as a mother. Honestly, do people have nothing better to do than sit around & think they are so high & mighty & perfect that they have the ability to judge everyone else??? IMO a child's personality & behavior dictate how they should be parented, there is no one-size-fits-all parenting in my book. And if you aren't in my home 24/7 you have no idea what I've been through with this little guy, he has definitely been a major handful & very difficult to manage.

He is now drinking less & eating more food, thank God. I was concerned about how I was going to handle potty training when he was guzzling so much liquid (rather than EATING) because he was going through diapers like crazy. It would be awfully hard to potty train when he pees that frequently. Of course that's not to say that I am ready to start potty training, but I do know that it's coming up, just waiting for signs that he is REALLY ready.

That's all the updates I have for now........until next time, whenever that may be......